Medway Renaissance

Quick to read, easy to find summaries and key information was what I was looking for. In spite of the navigation pointing to these I then found I was pointed to somewhere else, then somewhere else and so on. Each time I followed a link I’d have to go back to the opening menu and start again. I got fed up with it after a few minutes.

I guess I need to commit more time to finding out what I want to know rather than snatching a few minutes here and there in the hope I will be enlightened.

Regarding the regeneration itself; in principle I’m not opposed to regeneration in the least. Before I moved to Medway I lived in Hackney. I saw very successful regeneration projects transform Hackney and Islington for the better. They became more attractive, better resourced and safer, more enjoyable places to live and work.

I suppose not having a life times worth of living and experience in the places that I have lived put me in a different position than some. I feel no attachment for buildings, town layouts and the like. Local history is a laudable cause worth fighting for. Saving and celebrating it should be a means to an end but never become an end in itself. The things I really care about is aesthetics, safety, functionality and green spaces. I don’t care about shops (I shop online) and I don’t care about buses (I ride a bike, walk and sometimes use a car).

I think it’s a tragedy the riverside has not been given over to the use of the general public. The idea of having car parks, shops, flats etc line the riverside is in my view robbing the Medway public of something valuable.

The days of the High Street in the conventional sense are gone / going. Hankering after something that has become an anachronism and investing millions of pounds into creating that is ridiculous.

Chatham High Street is never going to compete with Maidstone, Bluewater or even the Outlet Centre by the riverside. A bit of radicalism is what’s called for. For example Medway is heaving with creative talents. Why not dedicate Chatham High Street to celebrating this talent and encouraging other talent from elsewhere to showcase their work here? At night time the high street could be a bustling and lively area full of bar’s, cafes and other entertainment venues.

Chatham could be unique and the leader in doing so in this area of Kent. Or we can try to replicate what’s already around or just settle for multiple Premark outlets and pound shops. Medway Council is living into the past and motivated by low expectations rather than creating a future based on new possibilities and honorable aspirations.

I find local government spin and corporatism nausea inducing. I think Medway Council provide some of the worst examples of this.